After the trial of the girl who was stamped to death by drunken youths, what can be done to curb the excessive drink binge culture we now find ourselves in?
It seems to what I read nearly everyday now that booze is a major factor,in anti social behaviour. The kids that were found guilty yesterday were 15 and 16 year olds out of their heads on drink. This is the second such case of someone being killed by drink fuelled kids in the last couple of months.
Who is to blame? :shock: Is it the parents for allowing this and allowing 15 year olds out at gone midnight, or to just roam the streets, or is it a wider problem with cheap drink being available everywhere? The numbers of very young children being admitted into hospital for being " drunk " has increase hugely over the last couple of years. It is obviously apparent that the major age range for this is between the ages of 15 and 21.
My answer is that something has to be done to stop this out of control behaviour. I would start by stopping the sale of cheap drink through the likes of supermarkets and certainly corner shops, where drink is being sold to minors,on a large scale. I would also stop the sale of alchohol to under 21's as Asda is doing as from April 1st. Drastic maybe but we all have a responsibilty to stop this kind of behaviour, and if they cannot get hold of the drink then maybe another death could be avoided.
Would be interested to hear others views on this frightening increase on under age drinking.
Im not convinced there has been an increase in drink related crime. I remember gangs of drunken youths terrorising the "Wood" in my youth. If there has I would offer an alternative view.
Has it been fuelled by cheap drink or by the number of young people who have plenty of time and plenty of cash?
When i was 16 some 27 years ago we either went into further education or into the workplace. Either way we had a very limited alcohol budget. Most parents expected a hefty contribution to the household, i remember paying my mom "rent" from my small holiday jobs. These days I see a lot of young people, with incomes, living effectively rent free. Even the ones with no incomes seem to get ridiculous amounts of pocket money. One of my sons acquaintances frequently treats himself to 3 or 4 bottles of vodka as a contribution to teen house parties.
Maybe the oldies are spoiling the teens and setting them up for a fall.
That said when i was a lad it was rare to see a mate drinking spirits, these days its seems to be what all the teens do. I put the blame for this cultural shift firmly at the door of the alcopop marketers. I recently learned that the thing to do is drink a third of an alcopop and then top it up with vodka.
On the Continent, alcohol is widely available and cheap but it is just 'not cool' to be outside and drunk. Yes, there are issues of alcoholism but nothing like in the UK where kids go out specifically to get hammered.
It is the culture that needs addressing because there is evidence from Scandinavia that tighter legislation and more expensive duty, the greater is the aspiration to have it and the bigger the problem of inebriation.
We all need think about how alcohol is portrayed socially in this country and what we can do to change attitudes to alcohol.
I was not old enough to have been involved in National Service myself but the culture in the days of my youth was certainly not yob based; we always had things to do!
However, from what I am told by chums who are older and were conscripted, the Armed Forces certainly drummed in self discipline and a care culture which does not exist today.
The youth need somewhere to offload all that aggression.. channel it into fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan perhaps?
How many people here...and i bet there are a few,have gone out and got fucking sloshed and either bragged or joked about it the next day?...i have even seen people come on here after a munch and been quite proud of themselves that they got shitfaced the night before!...kids will mirror adults if they think its ok for mum and dad to do so,for example...another reason i read today was how expensive it is to get involved in many sports activities or even going to the cinema say...drinking is cheaper...a very sad fact!
I was brought up with a healthy attitude to drinking and I never indulged in binge drinking. We have brought our children up the same way, having had a glass of wine with a meal or maybe a beer at the weekend. They behave regardless of the company and are never antisocial when drinking. They don't go mad, but I expect that they do drink when with friends - although I would be shocked if they drunk on the streets.
I know where they are without having to know their every move - my daughter feels the need to text me when she's at certain points of a journey but I don't insist on that. We have a code word that she has to say or put into a text just so I can be assured that all is well, if I need that reassurance.
Other than their upbringing, I can't have much control over what they do as they go out into the big wide world. I just have to trust that what we taught was enough. They are old enough to take responsibility for their own actions and accept the consequences though.
When I left school and went straight to work I had to be in a 10pm because I had to get up for work!, my dad was very strict about this.
Where are the parents?, probably in the pub themselves getting pissed.
I think the moral fibre of society has completley broken down.
Here are a few of the problems which, in my opinion, lead to the binge drinking culture:
1) Affordability - the drinks are relatively inexpensive and kids have considerably more money than they had 20-30 years ago
2) Availability - In my youth you had to find an off licence where you could get way with it and there were only three withing reasonable walking distance. The off licences had something to lose if they were found out then. Today there are a multitude of alcohol outlets in every neighbourhood.
3) Lack of motivation - kids do not have to strive to achieve a comfortable life these days it is easy to be comfortable without trying therefore drifting around is quite normal. Smoking, drinking, watching R18 dvd's, shop lifting it is all just too easy to drift into and not get really punished for it.
4) Media propoganda - need to be careful here - TV's & papers love to show people drunk. Whether it be with the cops on a night out in UK or Spain or constantly showing pople drinking and suffering in Soaps and films. The media successfully made wearing a seat belt cool and acceptable, it can and should now focus on the alcohol problem and make being drunk very uncool. Not much profit though in making social statements.
In my opinion the biggest single factor is becomng engaged with kids and breaking down the barrier that means parents are just so dull and boring, and 'just don't understand.' Somewhere and somehow our PC Society has fostered a situation whereby kids have a say, they have a voice and they are heard. They voice their opinions and idea's to establish rights and priviliges borne out of nothing but political correctness.
I have the utmost sympathy with the very many good parents out there who feel thay are just losing the bond with their children because where once discipline and threats enabled a tight reign kids now feel that they can do whatver they want with no significant consequences.
These are the atitudes that have to change, in my opinion.
I haven't read all the posts yet on this subject, but read enough to reply. In my job as a youth worker I see the effects of binge drinking and the attitudes of the kids. They really do not care. They think it is all a laugh. In my job, I am supposed to provide information to the young people about the dangers of drinking and using drugs, but the kids already know the dangers and to get them to take part in an activity around these subjects is near enough impossible. The subject bores them to death. Is it he parents fault, sometimes. In reference to Jaymar, please don't think I am blaming the parents. This is the minority. In the community I work, I have young people who have their alcohol bought for them by their parents and many parents in the community are either alcoholics or drug users.
I believe the only way to control our binge drinking culture is to raise the age to 21. How many 14 year olds look 18 when they are out drinking!!!!!!
Unfortunately I don't think we will ever stop underage drinking, but we can control it.